Current Affairs This Week (20-08-2017)

Now water used as propellant for tiny satellites
Engineers at Purdue University in the US have designed and tested a micropropulsion system that uses liquid water as the propellant for orbital maneuvering of tiny satellites called CubeSats.

August 12: International Youth Day
International Youth Day (IYD) is an awareness day designated by the United Nations. The purpose of the day is to draw attention to a given set of cultural and legal issues surrounding youth.

Odisha govt & Facebook launches ‘SheMeansBusiness’ programme
Chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday launched ‘She Means Business’ programme of Facebook for women entrepreneurs in Odisha. Under the scheme 25, 000 women entrepreneurs and self-help group (SHG) members will be given training on digital marketing skills within next one year.

Factory output at 4-year low, shrinks 0.1% in JuneFactory output fell to a four-year low and contracted by 0.1 per cent in June with poor performance of manufacturing and mining sectors.

Cristiano Ronaldo Handed Five-Match Ban For Ref Push
Cristiano Ronaldo was hit with a five-match ban by the Spanish football federation (RFEF) on Monday for pushing the referee after being sent-off in Real Madrid’s 3-1 Spanish Super Cup, first leg win over Barcelona.

Lucky Loser Ramkumar Enters Cincinnati Open Second Round
Despite losing in the final qualifier of the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, the world No 180 entered the main draw of the Masters event thanks to a lucky loser entry after world No 21 Gael Monfils withdrew due to illness.

Indian Coast Guard ship ‘Shaurya’ commissioned in Goa
The OPV, which draws 2,350 tonne and is propelled by 9100 kilowatt diesel engine, has been designed and built indigenously by Goa Shipyard Ltd and is fitted with state-of-the-art navigation and communication equipment, sensors and machineries.

Gaj Yatra campaign to protect elephants launched
On the occasion of World Elephant Day, leading wildlife conservation NGO Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) announced the launch of the Gaj Yatra, a campaign that aims to raise awareness about the shrinking space for India?s wild elephants and the importance of securing elephant corridors.

India-ASEAN Youth Summit begins in Bhopal
As part of the commemorative events to mark the 25th anniversary of the India-Asean dialogue partnership, an India-Asean Youth Summit will be held in Bhopal from August 14 to 19.

Scientists develop world’s 1st Plant-based Zika vaccine
Scientists have developed the world’s first plant-based Zika vaccine that may be more effective, safer and cheaper than other vaccines against the mosquito-borne virus.

IIT develops silk patch to repair damaged heart tissue
Scientists at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati have fabricated a 3D cardiac tissue patch using silk protein membranes seeded with heart muscle cells. The patch can potentially be used for regenerating damaged heart tissue.

Google voice search in eight more languages
Google has unveiled its voice search facility in eight additional Indian languages. In a statement, the technology major said that the latest move was part of its efforts to help solve the challenge for India’s next billion users. The new languages include Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu.

HUL’s Balaji to join Tata Motors as CFO
Tata Motors has announced the appointment of P.B. Balaji as its new chief financial officer. Mr. Balaji has resigned as CFO of Hindustan Unilever Ltd. (HUL).

India moves to revive TAPI gas pipeline
The Turkmenistan–Afghanistan–Pakistan–India Pipeline (TAPI) is a natural gas pipeline being developed by the Asian Development Bank.India will host the next steering committee meeting of the proposed 1,814 kilometre-long Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline, senior officials on both sides confirmed.

Aeroplanes may be affecting ozone layer
Aeroplanes may be ejecting significant amounts of black carbon (BC) — a pollutant known to aggravate breathing disorders, upset the monsoon and quicken glacier melt — and may be depleting the ozone layer, according to a study by climate researchers from multiple institutions in the country.

Nepal, China sign three pacts to boost energy, economic ties
Nepal and China signed three pacts to further boost their ties in power and energy sectors and undertake a feasibility study to excavate natural gas and petroleum in the Himalayan country.

Stents prices heavily slashed
In a major relief to lakhs of cardiac patients, the government today cut prices of life—saving coronary stents by up to 85 per cent by capping them at Rs 7,260 for bare metal ones and Rs 29,600 for drug eluting variety.

Saudi Arabia to open Salwa border to Qatari pilgrims for haj
Saudi Arabia said on 16th August it would welcome Qatari pilgrims to Saudi Arabia to perform the haj this season, amidst a feud that has triggered tensions between the two nations since June.

Crude oil shipment opens new vistas in India-US relationship
The first Consignments of American crude oil left the U.S. shores between August 6-14 and is likely to reach Odisha in the last week of September , opening new vistas in the Indo-U.S. ties.

Cincinnati Open: Sania Mirza-Peng Shuai advance
Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza and her Chinese partner Peng Shuai advanced to the quarter-finals of the Cincinnati Open following a straight-set victory in the women’s doubles clash.

The Global Liveability Report 2017
Global Liveability has improved for the first time in a decade! This year’s Global Liveability Ranking scores lifestyle changes in 140 cities worldwide. Melbourne has been named the world’s most liveable city.

Earth scores extremely low in its 2016 climate report card
The year 2016 saw the Earth setting a slew of dire records which includes the hottest year in modern times, the highest sea level and the most heat-trapping gases ever emitted, a global climate report said recently.

India is the 8th positively influencing country in the world
In a new Ipsos MORI poll, Canada has topped the list of countries that most positively influence the globe with a whooping 81 per cent rating. Interestingly, India, with 53 per cent rating, surpasses the USA (40 per cent) and China (49 per cent) in having the most positive influence on global affairs.

Trinamool Congress sweeps West Bengal civic elections
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) continued with its political dominance in West Bengal by sweeping on Thursday the elections to all the seven civic bodies that went to the polls last week.

Nobel-laureate Malala Yousafzai to study at Oxford
Yousafzai won international renown in 2012 after she was shot by a Taliban gunman in Pakistan for speaking out for the right of girls to go to school. Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai has gained a place at the University of Oxford.

India’s first Partition Museum opens doors to public
India’s first Partition museum was inaugurated on august 17 in Amritsar to commemorate 70 years of Independence, for both India and Pakistan.

Doklam or Zhoglam (in Standard Tibetan)
An area with a plateau and a valley, lying between Tibet’s Chumbi Valley to the north, Bhutan’s Ha Valley to the east and India’s Sikkim state to the west. It has been depicted as part of Bhutan in the Bhutanese maps since 1961, but it is also claimed by China.

Encephalitis
Encephalitis is a sudden onset inflammation of the brain. Encephalitis with meningitis is known as meningoencephalitis. Symptoms include headache, fever, confusion, drowsiness, and fatigue. Further symptoms include seizures or convulsions, tremors, hallucinations, stroke, and memory problems.